Chapter 1: Realisation.
Ciel was ill, no surprise there, well the boy had asthma and recently had been coming down with a cold left, right and centre, it had become part of the daily routine of Sebastian to tend to his lord sickness upon all the other tasks the earl sent him on. But something this time was off to the demon, it didn't seem like his masters illness was like the last spouts he had. Nope this illness was different almost as if it wasn't an illness.
Sebastian went to his masters bedchambers to check up on the boy. Ciel had been bed ridden for the last few days, a scorching temperature, a cough that refused to budge, he was clammy and barely able to remain awake, Sebastian had resorted to having to feed him like a mother would a young child, he had become so physically weak that he was unable to do that for himself. Sebastian wasn't surprised to see the Earl dozed off in bed, after all that's all he could do. A small smile pried on the demons lips as he saw that. Sebastian Michaelis had become very fond of this boy, very fond indeed, and it hurt him so to see him in such a pitiful state, had it been during the first few weeks of their contract Sebastian wouldn't have made a sarcastic comment about it, but up until recently… well it would have just rolled off of his tongue, but he couldn't now. The demon was in love, in love with his human. A forbidden love that, if caught, would lead to legal and social sanctions.
Anyway Sebastian went to check on Ciel, going over to his lord to wake him in order to get the Earl to eat, after all he didn't need Ciel wasting away. But the earl wouldn't wake. Sebastian tried again, shaking the boy, that didn't work, he even tried to wake him by placing a soft and gentle kiss on the boy's lips. But no that didn't wake the earl either. Sebastian was worried, he had no idea what this illness was and how it could be cured, and he had no idea that this illness wasn't an illness at all. He sighed leaving the boy be, but not before he replaced the damp cloth on Ciel's forehead. Sebastian stepped outside the room before turning to Finny, whom he had told to wait outside, "Keep an eye on him for now. Come and inform me straight away if anything changes. There is soup in the room for him, if he wakes can you try and get him to eat it." Sebastian ordered his subordinate. Finny nodded.
"Mr Sebastian," he began, "do you know what is wrong with the young master?" Finny was worried about Ciel, he owed Ciel and Sebastian his life, he was able to be free, free from the experiments and men in lab coats, he could work outside all he wanted, thanks to Ciel and his butler.
"No" Sebastian replied with a soft sigh. "I'm afraid I do not know what is wrong with the young master." Finny nodded again before going quietly into Ciel's bedchambers and sitting beside the bed, monitoring Ciel's condition like Sebastian had ordered.
Sebastian however went back to his work, cleaning the manor like his job expected though all the while whilst he was working, his mind tried to piece together what was wrong with Ciel. As his mind slowly churned, the symptoms Ciel was showing seemed to fit into the characteristics of many illnesses. It was frustrating to say the least. So he abandoned the thought process of seeing what the boy had from what illnesses he knew about, and Sebastian knew of a lot of illnesses. He let out a groan as he stood in the middle of the room he was in. "He's 13 years old, even with having asthma, the boy shouldn't be getting ill as frequently as he has been… he is a strong boy so for him to be stopped by this illness is troubling to say the least. He didn't even want to rest when his asthma flared up whilst we were investigating the Noah's Arc Circus troop." He sighed again before going back to cleaning. Could it be an attempt at the boy's life? Surely not I would have realised that by now, and everyone he has dealt with recently seemed alright… he cut his trail of thoughts off suddenly. "He entertained a large number of guests several nights ago to celebrate the recent successes Funtom had been having." All of a sudden the demon felt stupid. Funtom's successes meant that more people were becoming envious of the boy and when people are jealous there is no knowing what they can do. Humans after all were interesting creatures indeed.
Sebastian thought about that particular event, who had acted strange around his master, who annoyed him, who was overly stalker-like towards the earl. There was several people who fitted into those categories. Most of whom Sebastian could eliminate, considering they wanted either a stake in Funtom or to sell Funtom products, or to work with Funtom in some way. But one was different. Lord Gelford. He was particularly concerning, he had spent a lot of time around the Earl Phantomhive that evening. Constantly questioning the boy about what he was doing with and where he was going to take his business. He even at one point enveloped the boy in a bear-glomp-like hug. Much to Ciel's displeasure and Sebastian's hate. Though Sebastian didn't notice much different about the boy after that, he had a bruise form from where Gelford was a bit excessive in hugging him but other than that he seemed, well claimed to be fine…but there was a huge gap in the definition of fine to Ciel and Sebastian.
Sebastian mused a little and as the cogs turned he decided to go and look at Ciel's bruise. The boy had refused to let Sebastian get a closer inspection of the bruise after the party was over so he just assumed that everything was okay. He quietly entered Ciel's bed chambers going over to the boy.
"Finny" Sebastian began, "Can you sit the young master up in bed? I just need to check an injury he sustained a few days ago."
Finny nodded siting the boy up, trying to be as gentle as he could be giving his inhuman strength. Sebastian lifted Ciel's bed shirt taking a closer look at the bruise which was still in the process of coming up. His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed a small mark on the boy. A mark left from a needle. He knew it wasn't supposed to be there, the mark was almost invisible to a human eye but Sebastian being a demon he had no problem noticing it. He cursed slightly realising what had happened, though he didn't know why his master didn't inform him of it.
He stood back up. "Finny you can lay him back down now." Finny nodded doing so. Sebastian sighed pacing slightly. "He's been poisoned." He said with a growl. Finny was concerned.
"Will the young master be okay?" Finny asked quietly. Sebastian didn't know. He didn't even know what the poison was. He looked at Finny.
"Hopefully he'll be okay." He replied. "Would you continue to look after him? I'm going to speak to an acquaintance who could help us figure out what the poison is."
Finny nodded keeping a watchful eye on the boy. Sebastian left the room cursing again as he went to find Mey-rin, well he needed to see if the needle that had been used was still in the manor trash or whether it had been disposed of recently.